delivery, transport or sail?

[psud]

I need to move a boat from Marseilles to UK - and I'm trying to find the least expensive way to do it. I'm thinking of sailing up.

Transport looks like it could cost £3-4000 (or more?), delivery's not much cheaper is it?

How long will it take to sail and when's the best time to go? I'll have to store the boat until then.
Can I cut across SE France? Is there a canal from the Med to Bordeaux, and if so does it require demasting? Or is it worth the trip heading round Spain & Portugal?

Anyone able to enlighten me?

 

[Twister_Ken]

Yes you can canal from Med to Bordeaux, or indeed Med to Channel. You'll have to drop the mast, and it helps if you don't draw much more than 1.4m - 1.6 might be impossible.

If you use the search facility, you'll find several discussions on French canals.

 

[colvic]

Marseille to the Uk round Spain and Portugal is quite a distance and could take quite while. As Twister says, the Canal de Midi is a short cut, better travelled in Spring than height of summer due to water shortage and a drop in level.

Colin Jones has a posting on one of the Forums at the moment...send him an e-mai as he does the trip every year.

Otherwise, go up the Rhone and take the top canal route to Calais..met a couple of Moody 48's who came down this way. Mast dropped etc., but going from the Med is easier as you are entering the locks when they are full and not empty, and upto Chalon sur Soanne they are all auto and some after. Don't attemp in Spring as the water comming down the Rhone really shifts..we registered 9.4 knotts in June. Also met a couple of crews who have done it over winter and have met lots of ice and frozen canals. We went Le Havre to Sette via the bottom canal route in May/June and had no problems whatsoever. We draw 1.5mtrs.

Phill

 

[Paulka]

For a relatively small boat : Hull lenght 8.25 m. - Beam 2.10 m. - Weight 2'700 kg. ,

I have got a price estimate of 3'355 euros (~ £2'300) for a transport by truck from Benodet (France) to Barcelona.

This price includes preparation/packing, loading, unloading.

You may obtain a better price, negotiating a transport by barge up to Lyon, or Chalons-sur-Saone, and then on your own keel. This may be the cheaper, and most efficient way to do the trip for a sailing boat, as the Rhône has a very strong current specially in winter and spring.

Have a nice trip.

 

[LadyInBed]

Going up the Rhone is a very slow business. Minimum requirment is to be able to do a good 6 knots, as the river goes like a train. Best attempted late August / early September when it hasn't rained much.

 

[psud]

Thanks for all the response, anyone got a better pointer to Colin Jones?

Looks like I'll sail - but I need a rough idea of how much time's involved before I start planning.

The boat draws 1.9m, so does that means canals aren't an option after late spring? Or are they not an option at all?

Has anyone done the trip round Spain, and if so what kind of trip was it - leisurely pace, or fast track home? How long is it likely to take to sail from Marseilles to Falmouth?